KEET — Bianca and Daniël

Inside description

Keet contains: a double-bed, a bed for the dog, clothes drawers, a source of heat (wood burning stove), a desk and shelves for administration, book shelves, a cabinet for shoes, a couch/ bed for guests with various compartments for storage (wood, blankets, jars etc.), a sewing machine, a kitchen (including an oven which works on gas and a fridge), a shower, a sink, storage space.

The main challenge is to fit in ergonomically all our personal belongings. We therefore built many closed or hidden drawers and compartments, and also objects with double or triple function.

Outside description

On the outside there is a small porch and a balcony.

As an extension to the keet, there are also a bakbrommer (a cargo scooter) which is used to collect building materials, a shed for tools and a toilet.

Materials

We believe creativity grows out of limited resources (the use of local/ recycled materials) rather than abundance. In the building process, we first consider the given need (for example the need of a shower or a chair), then the available materials, and only last, the solution. The ‘material prior to idea’ approach makes for us more sense sustainably than the common ‘idea-choice of material’ sequence driven by consumerism. [1]

The inverted design process makes the keet impossible to reproduce. There cannot be a second or a third keet, as would be the case if the materials were to be bought in the building shop.

The construction materials we buy second-hand if they are impossible to find for free (e.g. solar panels, sandwich panels, steel from the scrap yard), but mainly we have used garbage, the new vernacular [2], which we separated in two categories:

A. materials we know that are in the containers and we can count on them being there:

pallet wood from containers on industrial grounds
doors and windows from building containers outside houses which are being renovated/ demolished
scrap wood (beams, planks, plates) from industrial or building sites waste
glass wool insulation etc.

B. materials we randomly find on the street/containers (our oven, fridge, stove, mattress etc.)

Of course, when using unwanted materials, there is the added element of surprise (the unknown) which we enjoy.

[1] The only negative aspect of this approach is the difficulty/impossibility to store all the materials found and decide upon what is useful to keep for later on. City containers are without doubt generous and reliable on a constant basis, but we find it important not to simply seek and collect, but also to be able to make good selections and have good organizing systems.

[2] Garbage is the new vernacular. Vernacular architecture is a form of architecture based on local needs, involving local materials and reflecting local traditions. Traditionally, each community developed a specific way of constructing the built environment reflecting their needs, utilising the construction materials and techniques at hand, without the interference from professionally trained specialist in architecture. Nowadays, in cities the only local and freely available material is garbage, thus garbage has become the prime resource for contemporary vernacular architecture.

Technical details:

Dimensions: 6m length by 2,5m wide and 3,97m high (the maximum height permitted on the road is 4m high)
All triangles in the frame construction are “Thales Triangles” (or 30-60-90 Triangles); apart from them being visually pleasing, they also allow for easy calculation, as the ratio between the hypotenuse and 60-90 leg measures exactly 2:1.

The basic steel frame, that comes from an old flat agricultural chart, was reinforced with some L-profiles.

Little plates were welded in U-profiles, so they could be connected with bolts; they were cut so they could support the walls and the gamble roof, and can be possibly reused to form the frame for another structure.

Sandwich panels were bolted to the frame; again it is perfectly possible to reuse the panels in a different configuration, if wished so.

Flooring consists of a layer of plating, then a wooden frame insulated with glass wool insulation; the top layer consists of second planks.

Windows and doors were placed in scrap wood posts, in wooden frames extending from the steel base-frame.

For the roofing material we have used bitumen.

The environmental, financial, practical and autonomy talk

As a reaction to the standards, myths (the harder you work, the more stuff you can buy, and the bigger house you can afford to fit it all in) and comforts (central heating, hot showers, science-fiction kitchens etc.) prevalent in the capitalist society, we try to rethink, redesign, rebuild and replace all taken for granted basic need structures (sleep, eat, wash etc.) in a single unity, the keet.

In winter for example, instead of simply setting the central heating at a high temperature, we need to look for (scrap) wood to burn.

Other examples would be collecting rain water for showering, clothing and dishwashing, the use of waste materials itself, the preference of mechanical over automatic appliances and of hand-driven tools over power tools etc.

When living in a tiny space, you are very aware of how much stuff you gather (the objects inside the house are mostly objects we make use of regularly), what and how much you consume, what waste you produce.

The mobility aspect makes sure that regardless of not yet owing land/ property we are still able to seek for places where to park (‘Home is where you park it’).

The choice to use waste materials, is not only environmentally friendly, but also financially. The building costs of the keet are marginal (around 500 euros).

The keet is an irrational endeavour, from an economic perspective. If we would work the hours we put in constructing the keet, we could better buy a tiny mobile home; possibly a lot more luxurious then the one we built now. One with an engine, that would be easy to move too. However; our decisions were not grounded in economic logic. In fact, most meaningful decisions in people's lives generally aren't. Nor is science or art. Or any endeavour worthy of your time.

Our actions do not aspire to save the world from environmental disaster or solve economic injustices, but rather live in accordance with a certain environmental and social consciousness. Cleaning up waste is a useful and necessary role in any society. This work also needs to be part of an individual’s efforts and habits, rather than expect it to be fully executed by scientific experts in sustainability. It is however a lot of work. The time and effort invested on our part in recycling waste materials is not comparable to the time and effort spent working for money to buy similar materials and work with them. Often the upcycling process involves a lot more operations and creative manoeuvres before materials serve your intended purpose.

We believe tiny, mobile living is an appropriate formula for living practically, autonomously, being environmentally responsible and financially independent in the present-day.

How the rest of the world perceives it

Maybe the most animosity and suspicious reactions towards the keet come from the laziness prejudice (e.g. "You get things for free", "You don't contribute to society", "How do you make money?!"). This condescending attitude stems in the misconception that functioning outside wage-labour structures is impossible and morally questionable.

It is easy to argue that gathering and reusing garbage contributes more to society and environment than collecting and throwing away do.

Goal

Keet wishes to be accepted and spread as a guide and alternative to the standard model of living/housing.